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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-06, 07:43
BawdyWench's Avatar
BawdyWench BawdyWench is offline
Posts: 8,791
 
Plan: Carnivore
Stats: 212/179/160 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress: 63%
Location: Rural Maine
Default New to TSP and May Need Some Help

Geez, it seems I've tried about every plan out there. Mostly the past 6 years have been devoted to Atkins and Protein Power. I dabbled in some other plans, but always those with very low carb levels. I never did South Beach or similar plans because I was convinced I had to keep my carbs down to 20 - 30 grams a day.

A little history. Last March 27 (my 50th birthday) I weighed 151. My all-time high was at least 190. The last actual scale reading was 187, but I know I gained more after that reading, and probably more than 3 pounds, but 190 is a nice round (I'll say!) number.

I was able to lose about 40 pounds, down to the low 150s, and maintain there with relative ease. I work out strenuously 5 to 6 times a week, both weights and cardio.

Then, from the end of March last year to around September, I gained 20 pounds. WTF? No change in menus or workouts. Started feeling dragged out, always sleepy, always achy. With all the exercise I was doing, you'd think I could bound up a flight of stairs two steps at a time. Nope. I would trudge up, and then have to almost sit down because my legs felt like jello.

From the research I did, I felt the problem was hypothyroid or adrenal in nature. My doctor did tests for all kinds of things, but said everything was normal. On paper, I was healthy. In person, I was a wreck. He thought it could be menopause, so he referred me to a gyno. She did the tests, found I was nowhere near menopause, and said my only problem was that I wasn't working out enough. She told me to pretty much drop the weights and instead do high-intensity cardio (75% maximum heart rate) for 60 minutes 7 times a week. I did that for 15 days until I couldn't do it any more. I felt worse than ever, and didn't drop a single pound.

So, I went to the Women to Women Center here in Maine. I spoke with the NP for more than an hour and showed her my test results for thyroid and cortisol. She said I'm definitely hypoT, but said she would bet the farm that my problem is really adrenal in nature and that if I can heal my adrenals, the thyroid will take care of itself.

She recommended that I do Michael Thurmond's "6-Day Body Makeover" for a jumpstart and then Schwarzbein. She wanted me to read both the first and third books, but to actually start with the plan laid out in the first book.

I just finished the 6-day thing yesterday and have lost 5 pounds. Good. Nasty fluid retention. I feel better, but no way would I do that plan for any longer than 6 days. I could only eat 2 ounces of chicken breast (no salt) at a time, and there was no added fat and no other type of protein. Yuck.

So today I start Schwarzbein. It's sure going to be hard for me to eat all those carbs. From the charts in the first book, I'm to eat 30 carbs per meal (I consider myself to be in the "Active" category). I don't have to have snacks if I don't want. Still, that's a minimum of 90 grams a day. That's more than I typically eat in 3 to 4 days!

There you have it. I'm studying the book and poring over the food selections. This forum seems to be a little slow. Not too many people on this board following TSP, huh?

I'd love to hear from some of the veterans. 90 grams of carbs a day and around 1800 calories (the NP's recommendation, though she doesn't really want me to count calories) seems like way too much. And yet I know people lose at that level.

Looking forward to chatting with you all about this new plan!
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-06, 17:06
pmezak pmezak is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 132
 
Plan: Schwarzbein/gluten free
Stats: 148/146/120 Female 5'2"
BF:
Progress: 7%
Location: SF bay area, CA
Default

I am kind of a casual follower of the tsp. I have read the books, I do have a thyroid problem, (had a nodule in the '90s, and eventually was told it was hyper, then they irradiated it to kill it, and my gland along with the nodule, now I take synthroid).
But I think that I had exhausted adrenals before all of this. I had had 5 kids in about 8 years...it was too much. My thyroid was probably on the slow side before this also. Anyway, over the years I have been trying to find help for fatigue, believing that diet is a big part of it. To tell you the truth, I like the Blood type diet of Peter D'Adamo now the most. Last time I followed it closely I dropped some weight. His diet, and the newer Schwarzbein talked about gluten sensitivity, and I believe
that is a big part of my problem. Have read loads on that subject also. My family is all short, and that could be from malabsorbtion related to gluten. I am really getting off track here. With Schwarzbein I do best when I used recipes from her cookbooks, not worrying about the calories or carb counts. My husband has tried to follow her meal plans, and he has dropped some weight when he's close to the plan. We always get messed up around holidays though, and haven't really gotten back on the wagon yet. Anyway, I like the Scharzbein foods with like whole brown rice recipes. I tend to eat brown rice and ezekiel bread for the carbs....Sugar is hard because it is a habit
that we all have so ingrained in us. Low carb really works in that respect. I know that low carb works for me, but I think I have a low serotonin thing also, and the carb cravings are bad in the winter time. Got to go now, will be back to read other
response.....
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  #3   ^
Old Mon, Feb-20-06, 11:50
ArticCat's Avatar
ArticCat ArticCat is offline
Organic Lifestyle
Posts: 214
 
Plan: SBP (Organic & Balanced)
Stats: 165/135/130 Female 5'6''
BF:
Progress: 86%
Location: Rocky Mountains
Default

Don't be scared of the increased carbs. I eat around 30 grams of carbs 4 X a day and I feel great. I also stay away from non-fat items and get fat items instead, like milk, yogurt and cottage cheese. I use real butter too. The TSP helped me to taper off of my refined sugars and replace them with fruits and whole grains instead. My weightloss has been slow, but it has been steady and it rarely gain more than 2-3 pounds during certain times in the month. When I look at my plate of food at each of my meals, I see every food group in a balanced amount and that means carbs too. I wouldn't focus on calories. I didn't. I focused on the what types of foods and how much protein and carbs. Calories don't mean much, since 30 grams of carbs can add up to different amounts of calories depending on what the food is. I tracked my calorie intake once out of curiosty and found that I ranged from 1200-1800 on any given day, depending mostly on what I got my fats or proteins from. So I suggest no counting calories. That gives you an excuse to eat extra or less carbs, when you should be sticking to the 30 grams instead.
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  #4   ^
Old Mon, Feb-20-06, 12:08
BawdyWench's Avatar
BawdyWench BawdyWench is offline
Posts: 8,791
 
Plan: Carnivore
Stats: 212/179/160 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress: 63%
Location: Rural Maine
Default

Thanks, ArticCat! I've been scrounging around this and other sites asking questions about Schwarzbein, and it seems to be held in pretty low regard by most people. Most people say you'll gain on it, and that they've never heard of anyone actually losing on it.

That's why I'm so confused. It doesn't sound much different than a lot of the bodybuilding plans and other plans out there.

As for the calories, my NP said that I should be eating more. I had told her I was eating between 1400 and 1500 calories a day. She probably pulled the 1800 number out of the air, just to increase my calories a bit. I typically work out pretty strenuously, and she believes my former calorie total was not really enough to sustain the workouts. I'm having to agree.

It's really kind of hard to actually get up to 1800 calories. She also doesn't want me counting calories or grams or anything. I just thought I would do it for a week or so to see what 1800 calories looks like.

Thanks again for being a beacon of hope for this plan.

By the way, is this forum always so slow? Not many people around, huh?
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  #5   ^
Old Mon, Feb-20-06, 12:21
ArticCat's Avatar
ArticCat ArticCat is offline
Organic Lifestyle
Posts: 214
 
Plan: SBP (Organic & Balanced)
Stats: 165/135/130 Female 5'6''
BF:
Progress: 86%
Location: Rocky Mountains
Default

No worries, I was actually down to around 1100 calories, but eating 15g protein and 30g carbs 4X a day. I kinda freaked out but talked to my doctor. He said that was actually OK, because I was getting right foods and I wasn't actually exercising at the time. I was taking on one things at time, once I got my eating under control and started to exercise I increased my calorie intake because I was getting hungry and didn't usually, so I just listen to my body now and tweak it once a month or so.

As far as this forum, yes it is a little slow, but I have found that there are a lot of TSP people that reached their goals, so they don't check the forum very much because they don't need to forum support anymore. I will admit that I am reaching that stage too. The TSP has helped some reach their goal and then they move on because they don't tend to cycle up and down like some of the extreme low carbers do. I also think there are less people on it because it is not much of a marketed fab. Go figure, since the success rate is better. I think that it doesn't draw as many people because it doesn't seem extremem emough or doesn't promis immediate weight loss.
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  #6   ^
Old Mon, Feb-20-06, 12:41
BawdyWench's Avatar
BawdyWench BawdyWench is offline
Posts: 8,791
 
Plan: Carnivore
Stats: 212/179/160 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress: 63%
Location: Rural Maine
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArticCat
As far as this forum, yes it is a little slow, but I have found that there are a lot of TSP people that reached their goals, so they don't check the forum very much because they don't need to forum support anymore. I will admit that I am reaching that stage too.

I can't tell you how great it is to hear that. On all the other boards I've visited today, most people claim that they know of no one who has ever lost weight on the plan let alone meet goal.

Good to hear.
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  #7   ^
Old Mon, Feb-20-06, 14:05
ArticCat's Avatar
ArticCat ArticCat is offline
Organic Lifestyle
Posts: 214
 
Plan: SBP (Organic & Balanced)
Stats: 165/135/130 Female 5'6''
BF:
Progress: 86%
Location: Rocky Mountains
Default

oh, I have! I was lucky enough though to stumble upon TSP before trying any extremem low carb diets. So, TSP helped me lower my carb intake from what it was (burgers, fries, cokes, ect.) to something healthier. I don't have the experience of try the TSP after doing low carb diets, so it may be that you really do gain weight before you lose it again, especially if your body is in a starvation state. I never had to deal with that, so I feel sorry for the people that experienced that but didn't stick with it because it is really a healthier lifestyle instead of just aobut losing weight.
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  #8   ^
Old Mon, Feb-20-06, 19:52
rosarugosa rosarugosa is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 183
 
Plan: TSP
Stats: 147/147/135 Female 5'2"
BF:?/?/?
Progress: 54%
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Default

A book I checked out of the library titled "Living the Low Carb Life " by Jonny Bowden,M.A.,C.N.S. has his reviews of "Fourteen Low-Carb Diets and What they can do for you" in Jonny's Lowdown he gives TSP 4 stars out of 5 and says: "You simply cannot say enough good things about Diana Schwarzbein. She truly is a giant in the field and one of the most knowlegeable cutting -edge endocrinologists in the country. Interestingly, many of the people I interviewed for this book started with more basic plans like Atkins and then, when they got closer to maintenance, moved to the Schwarzbein Principle. As an overall plan for health, this is five star material. But as a weight loss diet--which it was never intended to be--it may not be the ideal entry--level plan, as it requires a good deal of patience and a lot of commitment."

If you 'google' him I am sure you can find a lot of info on Mr. Bowden. The bk. was published in 2004. It is interesting. I find I Usually benefit in some way by getting many opinions when making decisions. Mr. Bowden has good credentials.

To me this is a good synopsis of TSP! The key thoughts to me are "an overall plan for health". I think if that is what one is seeking--good health and eventually reaching a healthy body weight-- her bks are very valuable. Usually to maintain weight people customize programs eventually anyway to a certain extent.
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  #9   ^
Old Wed, Feb-22-06, 17:23
ArticCat's Avatar
ArticCat ArticCat is offline
Organic Lifestyle
Posts: 214
 
Plan: SBP (Organic & Balanced)
Stats: 165/135/130 Female 5'6''
BF:
Progress: 86%
Location: Rocky Mountains
Default

I think his review really nailed the point. It's a lifestyle plan that needs patience and commitment and isn't a diet. Nice find and well put.
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  #10   ^
Old Fri, Mar-24-06, 20:19
Tazzieone's Avatar
Tazzieone Tazzieone is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 52
 
Plan: Paleo/my own
Stats: 215/220/140 Female 5'8''
BF:
Progress: -7%
Default

I just came off a year of LA weight loss and eating vegetarian, I got back the gym, I was hungry before but suddenly felt bad and was STARVING! I ate a very large breakfast one day and felt terrific all day and that big ol lightbulb over the head came on DUH I wasn't eating enough for the workouts, when I came across these books it was like switching on a light ahhhhh to have balance again, I so look forward to it :-)
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